Licking Flames
by WriterOfDreems
Summary: The Toretto team has returned to find Brian. What they don't expect is to find him in Chicago with a whole new life. A dependent brother and a resentful brother along with a shop and enemies to boot. How will things mesh? *Crossover with Chicago Fire big time and even some Chicago PD crossover!* Rated M just to be safe for further chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The outside of the building was nicer than many of the others on the streets. It was slightly grey in color. The large graffiti words on the front read out BRO'S GARAGE in bold black and green lettering.

There were a few cars outside and the back end of a few cars outside and the back end of a few others in the open garage doors. Music was blasting through them.

Dominic Toretto opted to go into the building instead of the open dors. Glancing behind him, he motioned the other two men to stay by his car and opened the door.

A small bell sounded throughout the building to let staff know that someone, possibly a customer, had walked through the door. Dom looked around. There were a few people already sitting around waiting for their cars. Some held car magazines or were messing with their phones. A few looked up, one even recognizing who he was.

But he ignored them. The sounds of the flat screen TV in the room tuned out the radio playing over speakers.

"Unless you have an appointment, you need to sit down and wait." a young voice said from the front desk, startling Dom out of his thoughts. He looked over. A boy, about fifteen years old, sat at the front, leaning over a book. He was quickly scribbling things out on paper before erasing. His hair was a dark sandy blonde that flipped up in the front. IT was a familiar look. He wore a dark green t-shirt with a black button up over it. A bracelet adorned his wrist, the boldly engraved letters reading 'fall risk'. A bracelet that looked to be hard steel. Dom could see a simple pair of baggy jeans and white/green Pumas.

"I'm here to see Brian O'Connor." he said roughly.

It startled the boy who looked up sharply. He frowned, looking Dom over as if analyzing him. For some reason, Dom felt uncomfortable with this young boy trying to figure him out.

After a few seconds, the boy pulled out a blue binder from a backpack. It seemed to be overflowing with pages. The boy began to flip through them slowly, glancing at each page critically. Every few minutes he glanced up at Dom. He had deep sapphire/aqua colored eyes, enough to pierce through anything. When he looked down again, Dom took the opportunity to look at the pages of the book. To his surprise, each page was filled with pictures of people and their names. Some were mugshots while others were what seemed like family photos. He glanced at the boy who seemed to be concentrating on each picture. AT last, he stopped on a page and paused. He took the page from the binder and held itup to Dom's face. He was comparing.

The boy nodded to himself before standing up and trotting away. Dom watched him slightly grip a hand rail that ran the length of the wall disappearing into the back.

Once he was out of sight, Dom grabbed the page of pictures and glanced it over. His picture was front and center with his name printed in clear letters underneath. Around his picture were pictures of Vince, Leon, even Mia and Letty. He frowned, not sure what was going on.

 **TF &TF**

Cody O'Connor gripped the door leading out to the garage tightly, watching his brother and Tej Parker converse. They were deep in conversation about the dismantled Audi R8 V10 in front of them. Tej was telling Brian about how the car used 19 inch 10-spoke alloy wheels with performance tires.

"Brian." Cody said, balling his shirt in his hand and trying to almost shred the fabric. His brain wasn't thinking. He could no longer multi-task, not like he used to. Too many things just overloaded his brain, causing headaches.

Brian had not heard him. He was still chatting about the Audi's 528 horsepower.

"Brian. Brian! BRIAN!" Cody yelled.

Brian and Tej looked over sharply.

Brian put his tool down and approached his younger brother.

"Cody, what have I told you about yelling?" he asked, stopping in front of his younger family member. Cody ignored him and let go of his now wringkled shirt.

"Someone's here for you." he said, almost mumbling. Brian nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who is it bub?" he asked with a gentleness in his voice reserved for Cody.

Cody frowned and looked every which way as if the answer would appear around him. He gently knocked a fist to the side of his head. Brian grabbed his arm to stop him and smiled sadly.

"It'll come back buddy. It'll come back." he promised.

He ruffled Cody's hair and turned back to Tej. Tej was leaning against the Audi, observing the interaction.

"Can I trust you to put some of this car back together while I'm gone?" Brian asked playfully. Tej rolled his eyes and threw a rag at the blonde. Brian laughed and caught the rag. It was then that he noticed how greasy his hands were.

"Head back up front. I'm going to wash my hands then I'll be up." he told Cody.

Cody didn't answer. Itnstead he walked back up front, disappearing out the door.

"Wonder who it is Bullet." Tej asked.

Brian didn't say anything and just disappeared into the back garage bathroom.

 **TF &TF**

Cody let the wall railing slide lightly through his hands as he made his way back to the front of the shop. The big man he had seen in his book was leaning his elbows on the counter, looking at nothing.

Cody ignored him and sat back down in front of his work. He hated math. Then again, he hated having to relearn things. Stupid brain. Stupid accident. But he didn't want to think about that.

"He'll be out in a minute." he mumbled, picking up his pencil and erasing an equation. In the corner of his eye, he saw the man nod.

It was an awkward few moments before the light footsteps graced the hallway. Brian appeared from the back, an ice cold Mountain Dew in his hand. He set it down by Cody and ruffled his hair. Cody either didn't notice or care. That was when Brian looked up, his face paling.

"Dom."

TBC

(A/N: I have about 6 chapters written for this and I thought I would go ahead and start posting it for you all! Read and Review! The plot bunnies won't gnaw on my brain as long as they are satisfied!)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(A/N: Forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter! Fast and the Furious and Chicago Fire/PD do not belong to me sadly. Now read the story and let me cry in peace.)

Neither man spoke for the longest time. The air was thick with tension. Cody of course paid no attention to them, mumbling to himself about a math equation.

Brian finally stopped his staring contest with Dom and turned to his brother.

"What have you gotten done?" he asked, trying not to think of the giant standing across from him in the room.

Cody pulled out two notebooks, one marked SCIENCE and the other marked ENGLISH in bold print. He set them on the edge of the table before returning to his work.

"Don't ignore me O'Connor." Dom practically growled.

Brian's eyes snapped back up to Dom.

"Get out of my shop. We've nothing to say to each other." he said, raising his voice.

"I've got plenty to say to you Buster."

Cody looked up, frowning.

"What's a Buster?" he asked.

His voice was so full of innocence that it made Dom smile.

"It's...it's just a nickname." Brian tried to explain.

He was about to be sure that Cody never called him that, but was unable to as a presence made itself known behind him.

"I believe he told you to leave." came the irritated voice of Roman Pearce.

Brian sighed and closed his eyes. He could definitely feel a headache coming.

It had become a staring contest between Dom and Rome. They didn't even notice the O'Connors. Brian knew if he didn't act fast, a fight would ensue. And when Brian thought 'fight', he meant 'brawl'. Turning to Rome, he put out a hand to stop Rome's possible escalation.

"Rome, take Cody back and see if Suki can help him with his math." he said in a dangerously quiet voice. Rome looked from Dom to Brian and saw his cold face. It always meant not to argue with him. Rome sighed and slipped passed Brian to the front desk. Cody had shut his math book and stuck it in his back pack. Rome grabbed the boy around the waist and slung him over his shoulder. Cody laughed while Rome picked up his bag. Before they left, Rome turned to glare at Dom.

"You hurt my boy, I'll kick your a-..."

Cody smacked Roman's back.

"Roman Pearce watch you r language." he admonished.

"What? I was going to say 'butt'." Rome said playfully as they disappeared into the garage.

Brian followed them until they were out of sight. He smiled slightly at his brother's antics. A lot had happened in the last two years. The accident had caused Cody to lose half his memories, his actions, heck his life. It was something that while Brian didn't want to think about, haunted him many nights a week, even after so much time had passed.

"So you've got a kid. Not something you mentioned to my SISTER!" Dom barked.

Brian looked surprised for a few seconds before beginning to laugh hysterically. Dom wasn't amused.

"Now is not the time to be laughing Brian. I ought to shred you now." he said.

The other customers were either looking at them in confusion or weren't paying attention. A few had even gotten up and gone outside.

"Dom, he's not my son! He's my younger brother!" Brian said, running a hand over his short hair. Dom crossed his arms over his toned chest. Brian walked around the other side of the front desk and grabbed some paperwork.

"So what do you want Dom?" he asked.

"It's been three years Brian. I'm surprised you never looked for us to apologize." Dom reported.

Brian looked up at him incredibly.

"Considering the fact that you probably would have maimed me, I figured it wouldn't be a good idea. Especially with my brother's needs." he told him, signing off on a car slip. Dom raised an eyebrow.

"Your brother's needs? What is he, not right in the head?" he asked.

Brian's gaze turned dark. He slammed his papers down and glared at the Toretto.

"My brother is NOT retarded. You don't know anything about what this family has been through. I think we're even." he explained.

Things were quiet as both men went through and pursued the information given. Dom didn't know what to do. When he had gotten into the car to find Brian, he was angry and ready to send the blonde to the hospital. But as he processed this information, he could tell that the innocent boy who had disappeared into the back had changed the saying 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'. In fact it was the complete opposite.

"Judging by the fact that you're back in the States, I'm assuming one of your contacts informed you of your clean slate." Brian informed.

Dom nodded.

"You seem to be doing good for a cop." He said. Half his words were sarcastic.

"Ex-cop. I lost my badge when I let you go." Brian told him quietly.

He looked Dom in the face then glanced down quickly.

"And yet our records are clean." Dom didn't want to sound too nice. He was still angry.

"Yeah well...it was either get your records free from prosecution or keep my badge. Besides, they lost the opportunity for a witness." Brian explained.

"Why's that?"

Brian chuckled.

"Those truck drivers were carrying illegal and unregistered weapons. They aren't going to say anything. They have to protect themselves." he told him.

Dom hesitantly relaxed his defensive stance. A few things were beginning to make sense on some gray areas. He wanted to press the original issue involving Brian infiltrating Dom's family as an undercover cop but he was unable to say anything as Rome reappeared at the front of the hallway. He was still looking at Dom.

"Hey Bullet, Tej says to come help him put the Audi back together. He said and I quote, 'If you don't come back and help, this Audi R8 V10 will no longer be a high paying job and will be sold as scrap metal. He said.

Brian rolled his eyes.

"Tell him I'm coming and to not get his panties in a twist."

Rome nodded, giving Dom one last glare before going back the way he came.

Brian ran a hand over his short cropped hair.

"Look Dom, I've got to go take care of this. If you want to come back, that's fine. Just get Vince and Leon to come in. I don't need them starting fights outside my business." he said.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Toretto's two companions stuck close to him as they walked the hallway towards the sound of Brian's laughter. On the walls were photos of various cars and people. Some photos were of Cody, sitting atop people's shoulders or on a fancy car. Dom knew each and every model of vehicle in the hall and somewhat impressed that Brian had done so well.

The hallway opened up from a single door into one of the most hi-tech garages the trio had ever seen. The ceiling was high and had skylights. Speakers filled the four corners and were blasting music.

There were various areas for cars to be worked on. A few different mechanics were already tinkering on a few of them.

The one known as Roman was shining someone's Ferrari. Brian had moved a piece of the Audi to a work bench and was tinkering with it. Cody was sitting on the corner of the work bench, swinging his legs absently.

"I'm impressed O'Connor." Leon said as he glanced around. Vince said nothing, opting to just cross his arms over his chest and glare.

"Leon, Vince." said Brian. He finished with the part and took it to Tej.

"What do you think Tej?" he asked.

Tej took the piece and examined it.

"At least it ain't shot." he said.

He glanced up as he realized they had company.

"So Bri. Are you gonna introduce us to your friends?" he asked, standing up and leaning against the half finished car. Brian sighed and glanced around.

"Tej Parker, Roman Pearce, Suki Liu, this is Dominic Toretto, Leon Daniels, and Vince Williams." he went through the introductions.

Rome definitely wasn't happy.

"So this is the guy huh?" he asked, standing up to his full size.

Brian rolled his eyes.

"Not now Rome. Cody doesn't need to see that." he said.

Cody jumped down from his perch. He trotted around all the tall people and stopped to stand in front of Vince. The ma stared down at him. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable with this young teenager just watching him. The boy had a somewhat innocent expression on his face but in his eyes Vince could see an inquisitive look.

"You were in my book." he said.

He stuck his hands in his back pockets, his legs unable to stop moving. It wasn't something he could control. When he finished physical therapy, he had been angry that he would have to sit just to get his legs to stop moving. The doctor had told him that it was his brain firing wrong. It was telling him that he was still on the move. Over the past years though, he had accepted that he couldn't change it. It had almost become an unconscious thing he didn't pay attention to anymore.

Vince though, wasn't sure what to do. For one, Dom hadn't tried to kill Brian and hadn't said a word about anything in the past. Second, Brian and Dom didn't seem to have as much tension between them as he would have thought.

"Cody c'mon. Leave him alone and go back to your math homework." Brian told him, guiding the younger O'Connor away from Vince. He was hesitant to let the 'out of control and usually angry' man around his brother.

"Brian." Dom started, the fight seeming to leave him. Brian sighed and glanced over at him.

"We need to talk." Dom told him..

Brian knew it was coming. But the tone of Dom's voice showed him that the man had resigned his anger at least for the time being.

"Outside." was Brian's simple answer.

He moved away from his brother and traveled out the overhead garage door. Dom motioned for Leon and Vince to stay before following the other man.

Once they were outside, Suki stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, I'm hungry. C'mon Tej sweetie. Let's go get lunch for everyone." she said.

Tej seemed unsure with the unfamiliar men still in his garage. At least Rome was there to keep them out of things. And keep Cody from getting into trouble. He hesitantly got up and followed his girlfriend out of the garage.

Cody glanced out the door as Suki and Tej fought about whose car to take before approaching Vince again. Rome looked about to stop him.

"Do you know anything about math?" Cody asked.

 **TF &TF**

Brian walked towards the parking lot for employees where his own blue Porsche Cayman was parked. Dom admired how clean and juiced up it was. Brian had kept it in such great condition. Dom leaned against the side and stared expectantly at its owner.

"So what's been going on Brian?" he asked.

"Six months ago, after I let you go, I lost my badge. About that time, Cody came to live with me. He wasn't always the way he is today. He ma be fifteen but he sure was an adult. One of the smartest kids in his classes. Knew everything there is to know about cars. Great and loyal to family and friends. But you couldn't get on his bad side." Brian started, looking everywhere else but at Dom.

"Five months after he came to live with me, he and a friend went joyriding. No one knew the friend's license was suspended. He was driving erratically ad the cops tried to pull him over. That's when he took off. Cody kept yelling at him to stop but the kid wouldn't listen. Even the cops could see my brother through the back windshield struggling with him.

"The driver lost control of the car and flipped it. Cody's side smashed into a tree. Driver walked away with a few broken ribs and cuts and bruises." Brian paused as his voice disappeared. He ran a hand roughly through his hair and stayed so quiet that Dom wasn't sure he was going to continue. But Brian did.

"Cody was in a coma for a month. Thirty days Dom! Thirty days I spent sitting at my brother's bedside just begging him to wake up."

"What were his injuries?"

Brian looked at Dom.

"Broken collarbone, broken wrist, most of the injuries were internal. His spleen had to be removed, one lung was collapsed and his small intestine was nicked. Worst was his brain. The constant leg movements, memory loss, child-like behavior, fall risk. All because of his TBI." Brian finished. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, very tense.

Dom was quiet. The information was shocking. It had been three long years for both men. Dom though had been in Colombia where Letty had disappeared. She left Dom a note explaining she needed to find her own way and would always love him. Mia had never had any charges on her so she had reluctantly gone back to LA where she got a job at a prestigious hospital and met someone. So much for Brian. She explained to Dom that while she still loved Brian, she couldn't wait around forever and needed to move on as Letty had. So it had just been the boys, no idea what to do next.

Then the news had come from one of his contacts that there were no charges against them anymore and reporters were talking of conspiracies with corrupt cops. Somehow Dom knew that they were talking about Brian.

He had given it a month before trying to locate O'Connor.

There was the matter of not looking suspicious that he had to keep in mind. The blonde had not been in LA as suspected but in the racing world, news got around fast about new or extraordinary racers. Brian, or Bullet as they called him, was one of them. It took them a while before they found out that Brian was Bullet and immediately headed to Chicago, the home of the reports. So many had stories of Brian's racing and his group and Com couldn't help but feel proud of his once brother. The cop knew what he was doing. Dom had debated whether he would go to the garage once he found out about it. Vince had tried to talk him out of it, not seeming to care that Brian had saved his life. But Dom had chosen to brave it.

"Things have been hard the past few years. I know I did wrong to your family but please, for Cody's sake, don't make things bad here. Everything and every day is a struggle. If it isn't Cody, then It's Alex or Roman..."

"Alex?" Dom asked.

"Alex is my other brother. Ten years older than Cody. I expect he's at the firehouse right now but it's more likely he's at Kelly's place." Brian told him. He shook his head at Dom's questioning glance.

"You'll meet them all later. It's hard to miss them when they come over." Brian explained.

Dom smirked and scratched the side of his forehead.

"You've got to have the most crazy family I've ever seen." he said.

Brian felt the tension leave his body although it stayed on the back burner just in case.

"Well I learned from the best." he said.

He glanced at the garage and stood up straight.

"I'd better get back in there. With Suki and Tej gone, there's no telling what Rome and Cody are doing." he said.

It didn't matter if Dom was following him. But the crunch of gravel under boots told him that Dom's decision had already been made.

Brian saw Rome first. He was wiping his hands on a rag, his attention focused on the other side of the room. Brian followed his gaze and smirked.

Vince was leaning over Cody, one hand leaning on the boy's chair and the other on the table in front of them.

"See? It does equal twenty four." Vince said, pointing at an equation on the paper. Cody didn't answer. He instead finished writing the equation out.

"Well as I live and breathe. Vince Williams knows something about math!" Dom said with a chuckle.

Vince sat up quickly as if caught doing something wrong. Brian couldn't believe Cody had gotten the man to calm down. Vince had always been a hard head. The only times Brian had seen Vince smile was when Jesse did something funny.

Brian's heart strings tugged at the thought of the fallen kid. It hadn't been forgotten and he always thought about what he could have done to save the young man.

Brian snapped out of his thoughts by the return of Suki and Tej.

"We just got the standard for your friends Brian. We didn't know what they would want." Suki said.

Brian disappeared into the shop bathroom as Suki began handing out sandwiches. They were from a local place owned by Suki's uncle. Cody took his and immediately started heading outside.

"Ah ah. C'mon Cody you know the rules. Every day at noon..." Brian started as he walked out of the bathroom with a pill bottle in his hand.

"I take a pill with my lunch. Yes mother." Cody answered in a childish voice. He took the offered pill from his older brother before trotting outside.

Brian grabbed his food and moved back to the work bench he had previously occupied.

"You owe Suki $22.50 for your food." Roman told the guests.

Suki smacked his shoulder.

"Quit it. You guys don't owe me anything." she said.

Tej laughed.

"Now you see why I love this woman." he said, leaning up to give his love a kiss on her cheek.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(Still don't own anything :-( )

The rest of the day was spent differently by the group. Dom spent the time looking over the Audi with Tej while Brian did paperwork in his office. Suki was helping Cody with his work and Vince and Leon had taken Dom's car to go scouting.

Tej looked at his digital watch. His mechanics had already left for the day. Outside the open garage doors, the sun was disappearing behind the various buildings across the street.

"Getting late. Better start closing up. Yo Rome! Go tell Brian I'm closing up!" Tej told his friend.

As Roman left the spacious area, the headlights of Dom's car lit up the back wall.

"This town has a lot of dead ends." Vince said, tossing the keys back to Dom.

"You gotta becareful of the dead end punks you meet though. There's some nasty ones out there." Rome mentioned. He grabbed his leather black jacket and shrugged it on. No one had even seen him return to the front room from where the sounds of Brian locking the front doors and turning off the lights came from. He came back to the garage with three jackets and two sets of keys.

"You guys have somewhere to stay?" he asked as he helped Cody shrug into his jacket.

"We got three rooms at that one motel off highway 74." Vince told him,crossing his arms over his chest.

Suki cracked up.

"Brian, you've got guest rooms. You KNOW those seedy motels are just full of chalk outlines and blood drenched sheets." she urged.

Tej tried not to smile.

"Girl, you've gotta cut back on the crime shows." he said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

Brian considered it.

"She's right. We've got plenty of room at the house." he said.

Vince's posture tensed. He looked sharply at Dom as if he were about to protest but Leon quickly punched him in the shoulder to shut him up.

"Vince and Leon's cars are at the motel." Dom supplemented.

"I gotta drop Suki off at her condo. You could follow me or they can ride with me then follow me to the house." Tej volunteered.

Dom motioned for his friends to come to the side.

"You guys wanna ride with them or me?" he asked.

"Dom, I don't know why you haven't kicked his-" Vince was cut off.

"I have my reasons. I don't see why it's your business to know right now. If you don't like it, you can get in our car and leave." Dom told him sharply.

Vince's eyes went ice cold and his eyes bore holes into Dom's flesh. But the Toretto didn't back down. Vince shook his head.

"Suddenly I think riding with the mechanic is the best option." he said, backing up, turning, and exiting out the side door by the overheads.

Cody took a step to follow his new found friend but Brian stopped him with two hands on his shoulders. Leon sighed and patted Dom's shoulder.

"I'll go with him. I'm not sure what to tell you right now but don't feel too bad." he said.

Dom sighed and watched Tej and Suki follow Leon out of the shop.

"I've got to set the alarm." Brian told Dom, leading Cody to the door.

The other two followed him to the door and waited as he punched in the alarm code.

Cody immediately went to the driver side door of the Porsche and got in the back patiently. Brian noticed the confused look on Dom's face.

"Ever since the accident, he's refused to sit in the front seat." he explained.

"Understandable. Have you tried getting him in he front?" Dom asked.

Brian nodded.

"He wouldn't talk to me for a week and spent the whole time with Alex at the firehouse."

Rome interrupted them all with a rev of his purple Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GTS. Brian rolled his eyes. Rome was just showing off. Earlier in the day, Roman and he had had a slight argument. Rome didn't know why Brian would just trust Dominic so easily when the man had obviously come to pick a fight for past mistakes. Brian tried reasoning with him that he himself was still on guard even if Dom was acting calm.

The friend had cautiously and hesitantly complied with Brian's request to stay out of it and let the blonde handle it but Brian knew that Rome wouldn't completely be letting it go.

Watching the Eclipse peel out, he turned to Dom and looked in the direction of the Italian's Dodge Charger R/T.

"Just follow me back to the house." he told the Dodge owner.

Dom nodded.

Down the streets they weaved (possibly speeding but Brian had it in his blood. It was almost second nature). Brian's mind began to wander. His thoughts went to his other brother Alex.

Things between the two eldest siblings hadn't always been as strained as they were now. Before Cody's accident, Alex was just as much in the racing scene as his older brother. He had in fact been in trouble with his superiors at the Chicago Fire Department and even friends/authorities at the CPD. Brian hadn't even moved to Chicago yet.

They had raced together, Alex schooling others on cars ad sharing some of the garage workload with Cody. They had all spent a lot of time together, the three of them.

But then Cody had his accident. Alex had been in an ambulance with his paramedic partner, Peter Mills, trying to save the life of a car accident victim when they had heard over the scanner of a car matching the description of Cody's Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, a car that Brian had gotten the youngest child for when he got his license, had flipped and hit a tree. Thankfully their ambulance passenger had been stable as the blood in Alex's veins had froze and he felt like he couldn't move.

As soon as they had gotten to the hospital, Mills had taken care of their patient while Alex had gone to locate his family.

The teams of Truck and Squad had shown up to support their friend and the young teenager that held a special place int heir hearts. Things had been quiet the first hour or so, Mills coming back for the wait. Brian was pretty sure that was when cars had become sort of a fear for his younger brother. It had been a few more hours of silence before Alex began to question Brian as to what had happened. They hadn't gotten far into their conversation when an argument broke out between the two of them that ended with Lieutenant Kelly Severide having to grab his young friend around the waist to keep him from coming to blows with the oldest O'Connor.

Cody was the only reason Alex hadn't moved out of the family's home. There wasn't much family harmony. Alex had stopped racing, was never really around the garage, and was never around the group much.

There were many arguments between the two elder brothers. Alex was adamant that Brian never take Cody to the races. Brian didn't go racing every night and could usually find someone to hang out with the impaired boy.

Thankfully for tonight, Alex was working an overnight shift and wasn't home. Brian looked in the rear view mirror and smiled softly at the drooping eyes of his main responsibility. Car rides at night always made Cody sleepy. But the miute they made it home, the boy would be wide awake and wanting to be in the middle of everything.

He could see Rome's headlights in front of him, slowing down every so often to make sure they were still behind him.

After a few more minutes, their home loomed in the distance.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The black Ford RS200 raced through the streets of Chicago with practiced ease. The driver avoided the heavily populated streets, instead risking dead ends and one way streets to find his way.

Tej had given Vince the address for the house. Both Leon and Vince had GPS in their cars but the minute he had the address, Vince had taken off, tires screeching. He was still fuming that Dom seemed to automatically trust O'Connor. It just didn't make sense.

He hadn't bothered turning on his GPS yet. The annoying drone of the automated woman's voice would just annoy him further, to the point of causing damage to his own car. He hadn't seen any police besides the usual patrol car but the haunting sirens hadn't played through the air outside the sleek car.

Turning down a road labeled COOKE ST., he pressed on the gas to get passed a light that was changing colors. He growled as he missed the light and had to stop.

A light wind blew through the open window. In the distance, the sound of music and yelling. Vince figured it was the usual sound of Chicago night life. As if the city were trying to get his attention, the screech of tires slid from one ear to the next and a truck flashed through his vision.

The black truck hit a smaller car, flipping it on its side before it thankfully went back down to its tires.

"What the..." Vince started.

He turned his car off, got out, and locked it. Sprinting across the street, he approached the truck. It was smoking and Vince could hear a hiss from the engine.

"Hey man!" Vince called to the driver.

The man glanced around in a daze before chuckling and leaning his head on the head rest.

"Dude." he slurred.

Vince was cold hearted most of the time. Although he spent a lot of time as a part of Dominic Toretto's little family, he had always felt like a loner and didn't let anyone close to him.

But that didn't mean he didn't care about people dying.

And it certainly didn't mean that he had a blind side when it came to drunk drivers.

"Idiot." he spat, leaving the intoxicated man behind and went to the smashed car. In the distance, he could hear sirens. There was even more smoke and steam coming from this car.

"Hey can anyone hear me?" he called.

He got no response.

(A/N: I know nothing about fire fighting, medical information, or procedures. Anything I add is from the internet hee hee)

Behind him, an ambulance, two fire trucks, and the battalion chief's vehicle pulled up.

"Let's get these vehicles checked for fires or gas leaks Casey! Severide, start checking passengers!" the chief yelled.

"You got it Boden!" one of the firefighters yelled.

Vince looked to the firefighter who was looking over the engine of the flipped car. He deduced this was Casey.

"Hey fireman. The driver of your wrecked truck is smashed." he said.

Casey looked to him and then a facial haired firefighter.

"Severide, you may have some trouble with the truck driver." he said.

Severide nodded.

Out of the ambulance jumped two male paramedics. One was a taller African American and the other was a shorter blond haired medic.

"What do we have?" the blond asked.

"Mills I could use your help with the truck driver. This guy's been at the bar too long." Severide said.

The African American looked back to his partner.

"You okay to get the car Alex?" he asked.

Alex rolled his eyes and nodded.

"If I need help Peter, I've got plenty of muscle and this guy." Alex said, clapping Vince on the shoulder and smiling sardonically.

He moved to the flipped car and stopped next to Jeff Clarke who Severide had left to look at the car.

"I've got one person in here." Clarke told him.

Alex leaned down to look through the broken glass at the young man behind the wheel.

"Hellow sir. Can you hear me?" he asked.

The man nodded shakily.

"My name is Alex. I'm a paramedic. Can you tell me your name?" as Alex talked, he began pulling out a C collar and put on some gloves.

"J-Jason." the driver stuttered.

Thankfully, his speech wasn't slurred.

"Nice to meet you Jason. We're going to get you out of here as soon as possible." as he said this, he glanced to where Mills and Severide were pulling the drunk driver out of hhis truck and to the curb. The man was spewing filth about anything and everything. On the other side of the car, Casey, Joe Cruz, and Christopher Herrmann were cribbing it, putting blocks alongside it to keep it steady. Clarke carefully brushed aside loose glass so neither Alex or Jason would get cut.

Alex leaned into the car.

"Okay Jason, I'm going to wrap this collar around your neck. Can you tell me where all you hurt?" he asked.

He glanced the man over, eying every limb and extension of the man. He had blood coming from a jagged cut on his forehead. Bruises were already forming where the door had smasshed into him. The man was lucky. The truck had hit mostly to the read driver's door. It had caught the driver's door only halfway but it was still crushed enough that it wouldn't open.

"My left arm hurts and my head smarts." Jason told them.

"Alright just hang in there buddy." Clarke told the man.

They worked together to stabilize Jason. Severide and the rest of Squad 3 were able to get the crushed door away from the car.

Mills and Capp were still dealing with the intoxicated man who wouldn't lay down on the stretcher from the secondary ambulance. Clarke and Alex were able to get Jason on the stretcher before Alex sighed.

"Jeff you've got some goodmuscle. Go over and help them would you?" he asked.

Clarke rolled his eyes.

"Go on. I've got mister muscle here to help get Jason in the ambulance." Alex chipped, pointing at Vince with a false grin on his face.

Clarke waved him off and moved to help the others. Alex looked at Vince.

"Everyone's busy. I need help getting Jason into the ambulance. Let's go guy." he said.

"What makes you think I'm willing to help?" Vince asked.

Alex stopped by Jason and did a final check. He spoke while he worked.

"if you weren't willing to help, you wouldn't have stuck around or told Casey about the truck driver." he picked up his go bag and stared at Vince.

"Besides, I would hate to have wasted my one good goad at Clarke on you." he said.

Vince let out a sarcastic laugh but nevertheless moved forward to grab the side of the stretcher. He helped Alex get it to the side of the ambulance where he instructed Vince how to fold the stretcher so they could load it into the back of the vehicle.

Vince stepped back.

"Everything okay over here?" Mills asked as he made his way back from the now leaving secondary ambulance.

Alex nodded.

"Yeah. We're good. All packed up and ready to ship out. Aren't we Jason?" he asked.

Jason gave them a thumbs up. Mills nodded and wento to the front of the ambulance. Alex glanced at Vince.

"Thanks for your help..."

"Vince."

Alex nodded, pulled the doors shut, and yelled to Mills that they could go.

The ambulance pulled away from the scene, its lights and sirens on.

"I appreciate your help." Boden said, walking up to Vince. He held out a hand. Vince hesitated before shaking it. He said nothing but nodded.

His car felt like home when he got back in sometime later after telling a waiting patrol car what he had seen.  
The wrecked cars were being loaded by two trucks and things were moving quickly at the accident site. Vince revved his engine.

He still had more to see.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Brian got out of the Porsche. He pushed his seat up to allow a now awake Cody to slip out of the car and run up to the house.

Dom's headlights lit up its frame as it stopped next to him. Rome had pulled his own car into the garage and the wooden doors were automatically shutting behind it.

Dom stepped out of his Charger and glanced over the house. It was a mixture of wood and stone. A large deck sat above the four car garage. A zig zag stone staircase led to the front door and Dom could see a balcony in the shaded backyard.

The outdoor lights emitted a soft orange glow that complimented the property. Although he couldn't see them, the sounds of two dogs barked in the backyard.

"Hope you don't mind pets. Rome's got a bull terrier, Cody has a pit bull, and Alex has a poly-dactyl cat." Brian told him as they walked up to the house.

"Poly-dactyl?" Dom asked.

"Extra digits dude." Rome told him.

"We converted the attic and upstairs den into three bedrooms and Rome has the remodeled basement. We've got extra bedrooms you guys can use." Brian unlocked the front door.

A light automatically came on in the living room. The living room was bathed in tans, browns, and earth tones. A brick/stone fireplace shelf mix ran the entire length of the back wall. In a large nook above it was a large flat screen TV. There were numerous game electronics scattered across the floor, the game Crash Bandicoot resting on a game cube. There were leather sofas and other soft furniture as well.

Cody carried his bag into the kitchen where Dom could see rustic cabinets, hardwood floors, and cookware hanging from ceiling beams above the island. The bag was placed on a dark wooden chair at the island before the teen trudged up a back staircase.

"Here they come!" a yell from Roman came from a long hallway that went passed the main carpeted staircase and a few open and closed doors.

Loud barks sailed around them as two dogs appeared.

One was a pure white bull terrier with one blue eye and one brown. He had a green collar and tags that jingled together. He had a pink scar running between his eyes up to his left ear. The other was a merle and white colored pit bull. He was big but covered in scars. His legs bore the remains of past wounds. He wore an orange collar.

"Dom, meet Timone and Pumba." Brian introduced the terrier and pit respectively. The dogs circled Dom and sniffed him. They were both rescues from the local animal shelter. They had both been fighting dogs, more specifically bait dogs.

They were surprisingly gentle animals. Pumba had been through classes and was now a therapy dog for Cody. He wore a vest when they went places but said vest was thrown haphazardly over a couch.

Timone eventually saw nothing wrong with or interesting with Dom and walked off. Pumba stared at Dom and snorted.

Brian reached down and scrubbed the dog between the ears. Pumba snorted and licked his mouth in comfort.

"Don't worry if he snorts. He was shot in the head during a drug raid with a shotgun. They did reconstructive surgery on his sinuses so now he makes more noises when he breathes." Brian informed him.

(This really happened at the animal shelter I work at. The pit bull's name is Medley)

Pumba walked away to find his owner.

"So you've seen the living room and the kitchen so I might as well show you the guest rooms." Brian led the older man down the hall to the three free rooms.

The first was the smallest. There was a queen size bed against the far wall with a bookshelf as the head board. An oak dresser was across the room and in the corner closest to the window was an entertainment center with a TV.

The second room was pretty close to the first except the layout was different with where things were placed. But Dom wanted the last room. It was the biggest with more space. The window on the far wall was covered in gray sleek curtains.

"The animals wander into rooms so we try to keep some of the colors close to their fur color." Brian mentioned.

As if on cue, from behind the cedar dresser next to the window, something scurried out.

Dom observed. It was a cat, a Maine Coon. It's hair was long, grey and white in color. Its ears were perked straight up.

Dom remembered Roman saying something about extra digits and sure enough, there were extra toes on its feet.

"Joplin won't hurt you. Unless you go near her owner. Then she'll take you down." Cody said, coming around the corner and picking Joplin up. The cat mewed and bumped her head against his chin.

Dom smiled and reached out and lightly scratched Joplin behind the ears. Mia had a cat when they were younger. It was never a fan of him though and would always scratch him whenever he would walk into a room. But then the cat had gotten out. Dom had gone out and searched high and low for the animal, knowing his sister loved it. She was at the age where it seemed like the end of the world. They had never found the cat which caused Dom to spend practically a month cheering Mia up.

Dom dropped his suddenly heavy bag on the bed. Unlike Leon and Vince, he hadn't taken time to unpack anything from his roughed up overly used bag. Wherever they had gone, Dom always kept his bag in the car when he wasn't at his current residence. Force of habit.

"I'll take this room. My lackeys can fight over the other two." he joked for the sake of Cody who let out a childish giggle.

The boy let Joplin jump out of his arms before he left the room.

"Start getting ready for bed Cody!" Brian yelled. He looked at Dom.

"You get used to the crazy after a while." he reassured.

As they returned to the living room, Brian collapsed on a couch and leaned his head back. The time was nearing ten, a time when Cody was usually already in bed. The day had already bee crazy so they had gotten home later than most days.

"You're more than welcome to watch TV until Leon and Vince get here. Tej will probably be back soon." Brian informed the tall racer.

Rome hadn't returned from his basement abode. Brian could see that the basement door was shut and no light shone underneath. It was safe to say the man was in bed.

A stampede came flying down the stairs and both men turned to see Timone, Pumba, and Cody clomping back to the first floor.

"Let Timone down with his pops." Brian hollered.

Timone did his happy dance and stared at both Cody and the basement door. He pushed the door open all the way and trotted down the stairs in a series of toenail clicks.

A rumble outside alerted them to a vehicle pulling up outside. It didn't pull into the driveway.

"Tej usually pulls up by the garage." Brian said, leaning his head back.

"It's probably Vince or Leon. They aren't always good with directions." Dom mentioned lightly.

They were cut off by the sound of footsteps on the porch and the turn of the front door handle. Brian looked up as the door opened and instantly his anxiety went up.

Alex O'Connor stood frozen in the doorway staring at them.

TBC

(A/N: DUN DUN DUN! So, what'd you think? Imagine that Cody looks like a younger Xavier Samuel. I'll post his picture! Please read and review! I already have chapter 7 planned out so I'll get on it ASAP.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dom was getting his first look at Alex O'Connor. The middle O'Connor had a mix of both his brothers' features. His hair was a dark blonde like Brian's but he had the same sharp blue eyes as Cody. Under the paramedic uniform, Alex was lean looking but you couldn't really tell because of his jacket.

(A/N: Alex is played by Tom Felton. Picture is on my profile)

After giving him a once over, Dom pulled his eyes back up to Alex's face. The blue eyes, now a cold icy grey, were glaring at him. Alex gripped his radio until his knuckles were white.

"Alex!"Cody yelled, launching himself at the other. Alex grunted at the impact but managed not to show it.

"Hey buddy. Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" he asked the boy.

"We just got home." Cody snitched.

All Brian wanted to do was diffuse a potential situation.

"Alex, this is..." he started.

"I know who he is. Cody, why don't you go to bed." Alex said.

Cody looked crestfallen.

"But I wanted to stay up with you." he begged.

"I just stopped to grab a car manual for Uncle Kelly. I'll see you tomorrow after shift." Alex told him.

Cody made an exaggerated frown but said a quick goodnight and hugged him once more.

The three adults waited as he disappeared up the main staircase, the thumps of Pumba following him.

Alex looked back at Brian and let out a tense sigh through his nose. He gritted his teeth and left the room for the study. He had come home to grab a manual for Severide who planned to rebuild a car he was bidding on.

The house was usually living room absent of Cody around nine through the night. Brian would be watching TV, in the garage working on his car, or in the study doing paperwork. Rome would either be in bed snoring or watching TV and playing viceo games.

Alex's ambulance had just gotten done taking a patient with a broken clavicle to the hospital and Mills had drove him by the house. Alex's plan had been to run in, grab the manual and get back to House 51.

Obviously that didn't turn out happening.

Brian watched him go and then glanced at Dom. He stood up and sighed.

"Here we go." he said.

Alex was sifting through a pile of papers.

"Do you know where my Shelby GT500 manual is?" he asked Brian.

He ignored him and abandoned the stack.

"Alex..."

Alex whipped around to glare at Brian.

"I remember all the horror stories you told me about when you were a cop. And then you bring the biggest threat into the picture." he hissed.

"He found me." Brian defended.

"Is that the best excuse you can come up with?!"

Alex located the manual and picked it up roughly. He started to leave the room before spinning to look at Brian again.

"You just can't leave well enough alone can you?" he asked, a bite to his words.

"What the heck kind of comment is that?!" Brian almost yelled.

"The kind where I'm fed up with you picking the wrong plays in practically everything, especially when it comes to to the well being of our brother." Alex gritted his teeth after his comment.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then stared coldly at Brian.

"Get rid of him."

With that he turned to leave. Dom stood in his way.

"You have a choice Mr. Toretto. Get out of my way or end up on the stretcher in my ambulance." Alex warned.

Dom raised an eyebrow but nevertheless moved to the side. Brian followed him to the living room. He came out to see Tej and Leon standing in the open front door, confused.

"Alex!" Brian tried.

Alex ignored him and continued to the door. Tej reached out and grabbed Alex by the upper arm. Alex didn't stop walking and just yanked his arm from the racer's grip.

Tej watched him go and frowned at Brian.

"What'd we miss?"

 **TF &TF**

Alex slammed the ambulance door and tossed his radio on the floor at his feet. Mills just stared at him.

"Took longer than you said. I take it things didn't go as planned?" he asked.

Alex narrowed his eyes at his partner.

"Don't you start with me Peter Mills." he warned.

"Just asking. You seem tense." Mills supplied as he started the vehicle and pulled out of the area.

"What do you think happened?!" Alex snapped.

Mills was quiet.

Alex sighed and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. He leaned his head back on the headrest. He glanced at Mills.

"I'm sorry man. There's just a whole new storm of crap getting started at home." he apologized.

Mills waved him off.

The ambulance was quiet. Alex rolled his window down and rested his elbows on the sill. The cool night air flashed through his hair lightly. He squinted out the window as they cruised the Chicago streets.

"You wanna talk about it?" Mills guessed.

"Just be glad you have a sibling you can trust." was all Alex said.

The rest of the ambulance ride was quiet and no words were spoken until the sound of conversation in House 51 was heard as they pulled in.

Alex immediately hopped out and stormed into the building. Kelly Severide was sitting at the card table listening to Clarke and Capp argue about who won the card game.

His attention was drawn to the slam of the ambulance door and was surprised by the angry look on Alex's face as he went passed.

Severide frowned and glanced at Mills. Mills sighed and shrugged his shoulders before opening the ambulance doors.

Severide tossed his cards down and got up, intent on finding his missing friend. He searched the kitchen and laundry room before going to the locker room.

Alex sat in front of his locker, the door open. The paramedic was rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. He paused for a moment before slamming the metal door closed with a resounding bang.

"Wanna explain what that locker did to you?" Severide asked, leaning on the door frame of the room.

"I'm not in the mood Kelly." Alex mumbled.

He tossed the car manual to the firefighter.

"Oh no you don't. You don't get to interest me in what's going on and then shut me out." Kelly argued.

He stepped in the way of Alex's escape. Alex growled and made a move to shove Severide aside but the tall man just grabbed his upper arm and steered him through the building to his personal office and shut the door behind him.

"Talk."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(A/N: Besides repeating that I do not own CF or CPD or F&tF, I want to post two quick notes so I don't get messages about how my information is wrong. I know in the Fast and the Furious series, Brian was a LA cop. In this, he was just on loan to the LAPD for the big truck case. Also, remember this is an alternate universe when you see people's ages and their work experience not adding up. Some characters are younger than they should be if they got the correct schooling for their field. I just wanted Alex to be younger than the firefighters ;-) . So besides that, on with the new chapter!)

"Dominic Toretto."

Severide leaned against the closed door and frowned.

"I'm supposed to know who that is?" he asked.

Alex growled and stood from the desk chair he had sat down at. He rubbed his forehead.

"Remember me telling you about that final case my brother had before he left the force?" he asked.

"The truck jackings?" Severide guessed.

Alex nodded and sat on the bed in the office.

"That's the one. I would have thought there would have been charges against those guys but there he was, hanging out with Brian." there was acid in his last words.

Severide was silent. It was always best to just let Alex spew his frustration and let it all out. They had spent countless times trying to interrupt Alex to calm him down. But it had always been in vain. So most in the house had learned to just let him go until he was burnt out.

"Brian does what he wants. Cody's always in the crossfire. He doesn't have my brother's best interest at heart Kelly. Someone's going to get killed." Alex vented, leaning his forearms on his knees and resting his face in his hands.

Severide sat down on his office chair.

"Why do you let him get to you?" he asked.

"Family is all I have Kelly. The past few years have caused this family to drift apart. I'll defend Cody to my dying breath. You know that." He could feel a headache coming.  
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Severide asked.

Alex shook his head.

"There's no point. Brian only has one defense. That's to blame it on someone else." he mentioned.

Severide frowned. Sometimes Alex saw stuff in tunnel vision. He was always so bet on protecting Cody that he forgot the family he had in Brian.

"What do you know about this Dominic Toretto?" he asked the paramedic.

"Enough from Brian's stories. I know how these people are Severide. I _did_ grow up with Hank Voight."

Kelly chuckled. He knew all about Alex's childhood. The young paramedic was seven years younger than the firefighter. While Severide had had a tense childhood, Alex had seemed to have a terrifyingly crazy one. Alex had been a problem child. He had grown up in Chicago alongside his brothers and his father. Their mother had passed away when Cody was only a few years old. Alex always acted out. His father, a police officer who Alex hardly remembered, struggled to keep him in line but it just made Alex rebel even more.

When Alex was twelve, he had been caught by Hank Voight trying to boost a car. Strangely enough, Voight hadn't arrested him or anything of the like.. Instead, he had given him his card and told him if he had caught him boosting cars again, the outcome would be different.

Alex hadn't used the card until nearly a year later. His dad had been working and Brian had been studying for the final police graduation test (not to mention watching a three year old Cody). Alex had gone out and gotten himself in trouble again and as things went south, he had called Voight.

Incidentally, Alex's dad, who had remarried a woman Alex despised, made arrangements for Alex to stay with Voight. Voight had never really told Alex how he had known his dad and Alex had never asked. Brian was out of the academy and on patrol, their father and his new wife were taking care of Cody and while Alex knew his father wasn't around enough for even Brian or Cody to remember, he felt that he had his own problems to deal with.

Once Brian had made detective and their father had been killed in the line of duty, their step mom had left Cody with an estranged family member. Things settled until Brian was loaned to the LAPD for the truck jacking case. Ever since then, there had been a build up of underlying stress between the two eldest children.

Severide wasn't sure what Voight had done to straighten Alex out but he was glad. Alex had turned out alright.

"You know you've got strong family here at House. We've got your back." Severide told him.

Alex smiled lightly.

"Yeah, I've got plenty of annoying older brothers here. That's a definite." he joked.

Severide growled and reached out, pulling Alex into a headlock. Alex laughed and dug his knuckles into Severide's ribs. The firefighter grunted and let go, rubbing his tender ribs.

"You always play dirty." he complained.

Alex smirked and jumped up from his seat, adjusting his shirt.

"I'm scrappy." he justified.

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter the cave of wonders!" Alex called, earning him a smack on the side by Severide.

Mills poked his head in.

"You wanna get started on the ambo inventory? It's closing in on break with ambo two taking over and I'd like to get a few zz's." he said.

Alex rolled his eyes and shared a knowing look with Severide.

"You just wanna smell nice when Dawson gets here to check in." he dug.

They could swear that Mills blushed.

It was no secret to anyone at 51 that Mills had the hots for Gabriela Dawson, the PIC of the secondary ambo.

"Maybe I just want to take a shower. Nothing wrong with that." Peter stuttered. Alex clapped Mills on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. Everyone believes you Petey." he said, high tailing it from the offices.

The card game at squad's table was still going but it seemed as if the tempers had cooled off. Mills had left the ambulance open and an official checklist sat on the gurney inside. Alex hopped up inside to grab it.

It was like clockwork for the next hour as he carefully counted syringes and small bottles of drugs. Anything that had been used during most of the overnight shift was recorded and what was left was written down. Anything that had been used was also recorded and some of what was written told what it had been used for.

As the Paramedic In Charge, Alex was held accountable for making sure inventory was done.

Outside the open truck door, a light breeze blew, ruffling his papers. He held the ends of his papers down and turned to count gauze packs.

A presence next to him caught his attention.

"So I heard you had a bad run in." Matthew Casey remarked as he leaned against the open door of the ambulance.

Alex slammed his clipboard down on his lap and looked up at the ceiling and huffed before glaring at Casey.

"Is my life on a ticker tape? Is there a newspaper?" he asked incredulously.

Casey laughed.

"No, there's just a Kelly Severide." he reassured.

Alex shook his head and turned back to his inventory.

"Big mouth." he muttered.

"He's just worried 'Lex." Casey supplied.

"I've told you not to call me that." Alex didn't look up as he wrote down a few numbers.

"Hey Alex! You've got a visitor!" Joe Cruz yelled from the Commons door.

"Dude, you know how prison guard that sounds?" Casey yelled back. He glanced at the man with Cruz. It was the same man that warned them about the drunk driver earlier in shift.

"You need me to stay?" he asked.

Alex glanced out of the ambulance.

"Nah. I'll yell if I need you." he promised.

"Yeah, like a little girl." was Casey's snide remark, the ending result being a well aimed shot in his upper arm by Alex. Casey grabbed his arm in mock hurt.

"Ow. You do play dirty. I'm telling Connie on you." he complained, mentioning the House secretary. He then walked away with a careful eye on the new man.

Alex rolled his eyes and looked at the newcomer.

"Vince right?" he asked.

Vince nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Just thought I would see how Jason is." he said.

Alex glanced down at his clipboard and signed the bottom. He ignored the urge to ask how Vince knew which House the ambulance had come from.

"He's good. Some cuts and bruises, minor concussion and a bruised up wrist. He was released to his mom. It was a good thing that the truck wasn't going faster than it was." he reported.

"That's good. He seemed pretty chipper." Vince all but mumbled.

Alex hopped out of the ambulance and shut the doors.

"What are you running from Vince?" he asked, resting the bottom of his shoe against the ambo's bumper, leaning casually on it. He gave an inquisitive stare to Vince that didn't seem to phase him, at least not on the outside.

"What makes you think I'm running from anything?" Vince asked smoothly.

Alex laughed. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's the middle of the night. A report on Jason wasn't going anywhere. You obviously knew where to find me so you could have come in the morning. So again I ask, what are you running from?"

TBC

(A/N: Not sure how soon the next chapter will be up unfortunately. I'm working hard on it but with the release of Jurassic World – which I won't be seeing until next weekend – I'm in a dinosaur kick so I have some Jurassic Park and Primeval stories I'm working on. I'm not forgetting this one though! I'll start work on it tomorrow! Please read and review and enjoy!)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(Disclaimer is still the same if anyone cares. If they don't, I'll sneak these two fandoms right out from under their owners' noses! Mwahahaha **hacking cough** )

(This chapter happens at the same time as Chapter 8)

"Do I want to know what happened?" Tej asked as they listened to the ambulance pull away from the house.

Brian gritted his teeth and sat, defeated, on the bottom step of the main staircase.

"Dom and Alex just had their first meeting." he simply answered.

"Ouch." Tej said as he made a trip to his room.

There was a total of three rooms on the second floor as well as a transformed attic with a bathroom. The attic room and attic bathroom belonged to Alex due to his odd shifts and needing the bathroom to get ready. Alex had the room by the attic staircase. Since everyone was usually up and around when Alex was asleep, it was best for Alex to be as far from the living room as possible. Tej's bedroom as well as Brian's were also on the second floor.

"I can see where he gets his temper." Leon remarked, earning him a chuckled from Brian.

"Vince didn't come with you?" Dom asked, relaxing his stance enough to sit on the arm of the couch

"Tej gave him the address and Vince has GPS. I guess he'll get here when he gets here." Leon reported.

He glanced down as Joplin slinked up to him and rubbed against his legs. Leon smiled.

"Dom why don't you show Leon his bedroom choices. I'm gonna go check on Cody." Brian all but ordered. He stood up and followed Tej up the stairs.

He parted ways from Tej's door and continued down the hall to the bedroom across the hall from the bathroom. The door had a few pencil drawings taped to it and a wooden plaque which had Cody's name on it as well as the Japanese characters underneath. It was decorated with different greens which was Cody's favorite color.

The door was cracked open and some light spilled into the hall. Entering the bedroom, Brian smiled as he took in the sight of Cody and Pumba sprawled across the bed.

The boy had changed into his sleepwear but the rest of his clothes were strewn across the room. Brian smiled and sighed. He began picking up articles of clothing and throwing them in the hamper. He also straightened up various areas.

Over the past few years, ever sice Cody's accident, his room had changed quite a bit. Gone was the serious aspect of the room and the plain layout. There were now lime green walls with more car pictures. The TV was on the wall rather than on an entertainment system. There was a dresser as well as quite a few bookshelves. Even after his accident, Cody had held onto his vehicle manuals and car books. They were now overflowing on the shelves.

There was an antique desk across the room from the door. It was covered with cups of pencils, pens, highlighters and even some crayons.

The bed had a brown wooden frame and the sides were raised so Cody wouldn't fall out of bed. Brian picked up some clothing that hid Pumba's extravagant dog bed. He chuckled as he could now see the brown carpet of the room.

"Is Alex still here?" someone mumbled. Brian stacked the now folded clothing on top of the cluttered dresser.

"He had to get back to work Cody. Remember he took an extra shift so he could save more people?" he explained.

"Is that why you guys were fighting after Alex sent me to bed?" Cody asked.

Brian hesitated and glanced out the window of the room facing the backyard. He fingered the plastic dinosaurs that lined the window sill.

"Alex and I were just talking kid. Nothing to worry about." he tried to console.

Cody rolled over to face away from Brian.

"Sure didn't sound like it." he murmured, pulling his blanket to his chin.

He hated it when Alex and Brian fought. He felt like they argued about him mostly. To the best of his It was not your fault and no one sees it that way." Brian reassured recollection, they never argued before his injury. He hated being the center of their arguments.

Cody always had the notion that he could take care of himself. He knew his brothers had had their own lives before the accident and the youngest O'Connor felt guilty about taking that away from them.

"Don't you dare feel guilty for your accident. It was not your fault and no one sees it that way." Brian reassured, sitting on the edge of the bed. He pulled the covers away from Cody's face.

"You all would be happier if I was normal." Cody all but complained.

"Normal is over-rated. No one wants to be normal anymore." Cody smirked and hid his face in his pillow to cover up his laughing. Brian rolled his eyes and ruffled Cody's hair.

"You think that's funny huh?" he asked, tickling Cody's sides until the younger male was giggling with tears in his eyes.

"S-stop!" he begged.

Brian laughed and stood up.

"Get some sleep. Alex will be home tomorrow." he said.

Pumba snorted and moved to rest his head on Cody's side. They said their goodnights and Brian pulled the door shut.

He walked back downstairs where Tej had ingredients out to make a sandwich.

"Well Cody seems to think this is all his fault." he told them, slumping into a chair in the kitchen.

Tej pursed his lips.

"He's gotta stop that. None of it has been his fault." he said, finishing making his sandwich and putting the ingredients away.

The room was quiet and Brian glanced at Tej. The man hadn't touched his food.

"You alright man?" he asked.

"I wasn't going to tell you but... when I was driving home I saw Garth." Tej told him reluctantly. Brian's fists clenched.

"Garth?" Leon asked. Brian looked at him.

"Garth Gifford. He's a racer and the older brother of Cole, the teen who caused Cody's accident." Brian's jaw clenched.

"I'm guessing he's not a very good guy." Dom said.

No one said a word.

 **TF &TF**

"I could play the staring game all day Vince. You gonna talk?" Alex asked.

Vince rolled his eyes and glanced around.

"And now you won't look at me. Can't be anything good that you're avoiding." Alex laughed.

"Just trouble with friends. Some buster pulling us apart." Vince told him.

Alex nodded slowly and shifted his papers to his other hand.

"Take it from someone who relies on friends. Don't lose them. Sometimes that's all you have." he told him seriously.

Vince didn't answer.

The conversation died for a few moments until Alex got a glimpse of Vince's ride.

"Nice car by the way. Ford?" he asked.

Vince followed Alex outside the open bay door.

"Ford RS200 to be exact." he said.

Alex nodded.

"Nice. Haven't seen one this nice in a few years." he said, glancing at it appreciatively. Vince reached inside and popped the hood. Alex gave a look of approval.

"Inside matches the outer. This baby gets checked every month. I keep her as perfect as possible." Vince gloated.

Vince was proud of his car. Keeping it runnig was one of his favorite forms of therapy.

"You do your own tune ups?" Alex asked, slightly mesmerized by the electric engine.

"It's all me. I keep her up to date with all the latest. You never know when you might need something." Vince told him.

Alex stepped away from the car and crossed his arms, trying not to crinkle his paperwork.

"So I'm guessing that you like cars." Vince guessed.

"Used to be. Only thing from that life is my car. My Subaru Impreza STI Sedan." Alex's seemingly good mood disappeared.

Vince noticed this.

"You ask me what I'm running from. But what are _you_ running from?" he asked.

Alex didn't answer the question.

"I've got to get back to work." he said quickly, turning to leave.

"Hey wait!" Vince started, reaching out and grabbing Alex by the elbow.

Vince didn't think it was fair that Alex was able to get answers out of him but the minute he asked the paramedic the same question, Alex clammed up.

"Let go of me!" Alex demanded.

"Get off him." came the tense voice of Rick Newhouse. He walked out of the firehouse quickly and came close enough to shove Vince away. Vince didn't give him time to inflict bodily harm and instead backed up, holding his hands up in defeat.

"We were just talking man." he said.

He had no intention of starting a fight. The usual fight that growled inside him was reduced to that of a small puppy.

Alex sighed tensely and stalked off to the firehouse.

"Look man. I don't know who you are or how you know Alex, but you need to back off or we're going to have an issue." Newhouse warned.

"Dude, I'm not here to cause trouble." Vince tried to convince them. He was in a new town and while years ago he would of jumped right in with a fist, he didn't now.

"Then just go home Vince. Go home." Alex said.

Newhouse and Vince looked back to see Alex just standing there, arms hanging limply by his side. Newhouse glanced back at Vince.

He back stepped to follow his House mate.

Vince gave up. All he could do was watch the two walk back to the firehouse.

There's chapter 9! I have a lot more planned that wouldn't fit in this chapter so I can't wait to write it and share it with you guys!

Read and Review!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A/N: Aha! Chapter 10 is finished. Things have been crazy but I've finally finished this chapter and have tons of sticky notes worth of ideas for the next one! Enjoy!

Alex practically left Newhouse in the dust in his frustration. He had one destination in mind. His heart was beating faster than his tense breathing.

He slammed open the Commons room door. As usual, both Truck and Squad were sitting around. Mouch, Otis, and Cruz were on the couches watching some infomercial. Mills was behind the counter, getting small things ready to make a snack or meal of some sort.

Everyone else had either magazines, newspapers, or phones in their hands.

Alex pulled out the chair of the closest long table and stepped from it onto the table. Casey, who set his magazine down by Alex's boots, looked up at him in confusion.

"Attention everyone! Would you all stay OUT of my personal life! It would be greatly appreciated!" Alex growled.

He jumped off the table and stalked off. The room was quiet but the tension was in the air.

"What's got his panties in a twist?" Otis asked.

"Leave it alone Otis." Severide growled.

Mills abandoned his food and wiped his hands. He lifted a hand to stop Severide and Casey from getting up.

"You guys have done enough." he said simply.

Leaving the room in shock, he headed after his partner.

Alex arrived in the men's room in a rush. He paced in front of the stalls. Things were going ninety miles a second. He had gone nearly a year without even having to deal with Brian's car life and then all of a sudden, it comes back full force. He could feel a tension headache coming on.

Turning on the faucet, he splashed some cool water on his face. The frigid water seemed to clear his mind. He had to keep his cool. Cody depended on him and Brian. He had to be strong.

"If you want to talk, you know you can come to me? I'll just listen."

Alex was startled to see Herrman's reflection in the mirror. The man was standing against one of the stalls.

"I hope you washed your hands." Alex tried to joke but it fell on deaf ears. Sighing, he turned to face the fireman and crossed his arms.

"I heard your little announcement out there. I know you don't want people getting involved but you need support in this. That's all anyone here wants." Herrman told him.

Although Alex had never expressed it, he had always seen Herrman as a father figure. The man had done a lot of research after Cody's accident to see what could be done to help the O'Connor family adjust. He had even collected money to help pay for Cody's hospital bills. It was something Alex would always respect Herrman for.

"I know. Sheesh just yesterday things were quiet and all I had to worry about was Cody's grades. Now I've got people at my house that could be scamming Brian!" Alex explained, his voice raising slightly.

"See? You admit that you care about Brian. I know it must be hard but you have to rebuild that trust with Brian. It doesn't have to be complete by all means but for Cody's sake. Thinking that the two of you hate each other has to be eating him up as well." Herrman reasoned.

Alex was quiet. He knew Herrman was right. All three O'Connor brothers knew they came from a broken home. It was a no brainer.

He was sure that if there had been no accident, all of them would be on perfect terms. But Alex tried to never think like that. There was nothing he or anyone could do about that and it helped no one by dwelling on it.

"Brian and I can't even be in the same room as each other without hostility. If you thought before's tension was bad, you haven't seen anything yet." he sighed and leaned against the sink.

"Alex..."

Herrman was interrupted by the alarm going off.

"Ambulance 61. Woman in distress at 16th and Madison."

Alex ran a hand through his hair.

"Last run of the shift."

 **TF &TF**

~3 hours later~

Brian sat on the edge of Cody's bed. The sun was beginning to come up. The Disney Cars clock on the bed side table read 6:50a.m. Cody was still fast asleep, his hair askew. Pumba was sprawled out on the other side of the bed, his head practically on the other pillow. If he had his phone, he would have snapped a shot of them. Reaching up, he pushed some loose hairs away from Cody's closed eyes. Sometimes Brian would stand at Cody's door and enjoy the seemingly quiet simplicity of the early morning.

His heart seemed to fall in his chest. When Alex was younger and Brian had the chance, he would do the same thing in the morning. It seemed like such a long time ago. Brian headed back out of the room and down the stiars at the sound of the front door shutting.

Alex was leaning aginst it, his eyes shut. He looked as if he had fallen asleep. A small smile appeared on Brian's face. It was a sad smile. Quietly crossing to his brother, he gently took Alex's duffle bag and set it down. Alex opened his eyes silently but said nothing.

Brian helped Alex take his jacket off before leading him to the stairs.

"Get some sleep buddy."

Alex said nothing but trudged up the stairs. He nearly stumbled at the top but caught himself.

Although they didn't get along, there were rare moments that there was peace between the two of them. They were usually when one or both of them were extremely tired. It was when they remembered how things used to be.

But they never talked about it afterwards. It was as if the anger quickly set in like the chill when one stepped out of a warm car on a frigid Chicago night.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he trotted back into the kitchen. He had to finish off the rest of his coffee in the coffee pot. Knowing that Roman had his own favorite coffee, he knew the older man wouldn't hesitate to dump Brian's.

Already in the kitchen was the quiet form of Vince.

"Dom will be glad to see you back." he quipped, grabbing the coffee pot.

"Oh spare me the lecture. I don't take orders from you." Vince practically hissed but it lacked it's usual bite. He had watched Alex trudge towards the stairs.

He was practically at a loss for words. When he had met Alex, he had never gotten a last name. It wasn't like he went around asking for the last names of everyone he met. He didn't even know Brian had a second brother. Just the reveal of Cody had been unexpected.

Brian meanwhile was observing the haggard look on Vince's face. He had no idea how long Vince had been there. It was obvious Tej or Roman had let him in. There hadn't been any arguing earlier so Brian was pretty sure it had been Tej, who was always up early for a run.

"You have to argue about everything don't youu. Those snide comments mean nothing these days." Brian commented, gulping down some coffee. He had no desire to get into an argument with Vince, much less in his own house. After everything the O'Connors had been through, he didn't want that.

Taking a sip of coffee, he glanced down at his phone on the table as it rang. He let out a groan.

"Popular at 7a.m. already B?" Rome asked as he appeared at the top of his basement stairs.

Brian didn't respond. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone. The number was blocked.

"Hello?" he said, setting down his coffee mug.

"Brian, it's Joker. I've got some information on Garth. You wanna hear it?"

TBC

(A/N: You remember Garth right? The brother of the dude who caused Cody's accident? Yeah, things are not going to end well, I'll say that right now. Read and Review! It's much appreciated! And thank you to those who have favorited and followed this story! It's one of the things that keeps me going! Oh and Andorian Ice Princess? That Herrman conversation was for you. ;-D )


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